This is it. Saturday. The last day in my very first Week in the Life. I managed to take photos everyday and, while I’m not thrilled with every single one, there are some I absolutely love. There were times I forgot to take pictures and times I didn’t think of just the right picture until after the moment had passed, but I think it’s a fair representation of my daily life.

The Saturdays I work, I stop by and get three dozen doughnuts from Dunkin- two assorted and one dozen Boston Cream. I always experience a brief moment of panic if I turn into the parking lot and see a line of cars in the drive-thru. I’m the only one with keys to the building and can’t be late. Fortunately, this time was smooth sailing. Not another car in sight.

My timing must have been perfect! No sooner had I ordered than a bunch of cars lined up behind me. I was on my way in less than five minutes. Plenty of time to spare.

Sometimes when I get to work there will be a few cars waiting for me to unlock the gate and let them in. Since getting the doughnuts was such a breeze, I was the first one at the dealership. The gates are always kind of a pain- it can be hard to maneuver the tiny key into the lock, they fit together tightly and in the winter they freeze. But it’s not half as bad as trying to lock them up at the end of a windy day. They never want to cooperate then!

Once I get everything turned on and unlocked, I put out the doughnuts. I wish I had gotten a picture of them all together. It was one of the most colorful bunches I’d seen in a while. There were yellow ones and green ones and even a couple black and white checkered ones. May in Indianapolis means race month. Everything is decked out in black and white and you can see Pace cars from previous Indy 500s around every bend. I wasn’t sure the black and white icing wouldn’t turn my teeth gray so I opted for this pretty pink one instead.

This is one of our Finance Managers from the Sales Department. He gives the best high fives! We make it a point to stop by and check on each other at least once a day. It such a silly tradition, but when you’re having a bad day and nothing seems to be going right, it’s nice to get that little pick-me-up. Since the day I started at the dealership, the owner has stressed how important it is we take care of each other. He firmly believes that if he takes care of his employees, they will take care of the customers. Now that I’m on the management team and the company is growing, I feel a tremendous responsibility to continue that way of doing business.

Saturdays in the car business mean busy days (hopefully). It also means that lunch is brought in. We have a standing order with our local Stacked Pickle. Today’s menu? Hamburger and pork tenderloin sliders, chips and salsa, coleslaw, salad, and chocolate chip cookies. Some Saturdays it’s hot dogs and hamburgers, other times it’s wraps. Not bad for a free lunch, but there are always people who manage to find something to complain about.

I know what the perception of dealership are. I know how the general public feels about technicians. I’m sure that years ago, before I worked here, I probably thought much of the same. But the truth is, it’s like any other job. Technicians are like any other profession. There are good ones and bad ones. Honest people and crooks. We pride ourselves on doing the right thing and finding employees with a strong moral compass. I know repairs seem expensive, but I don’t think the average joe realizes how much technicians spend on schooling and tools. Cars these days are not simple to work on- most of them have over 25 modules and require expensive equipment to repair. Every day I see engines disassembled and transmissions in pieces and am blown away by the skill it takes to find the issue, fix it, and put it back together.

This is just one of many clocks around the shop and the one that I find myself using to count down the minutes till closing. I intentionally left a lot of white space on my photograph (something I’m trying to do more often) so I could type in some journaling about the closing process before I print it out.

This is my MO. I don’t know why I do it to myself time and time again, but I do. I have been driving through the middle of Wyoming, in the middle of the night, with not a soul in sight and the low fuel light came on. I was stuck in downtown Chicago traffic during the Festival of Lights and the low fuel light came on. I’ve been lucky that I haven’t actually ran out of gas, but one day that luck is going to run out. You’d think a girl would learn…

Not much to say about this photo, other than once again I’m grateful I made it to a gas station before running out of gas. I also thought it might be interesting to look back on the price of fuel years from now.

I have been obsessed with clouds lately. I prefer white fluffy ones over the storm clouds we seem to be overrun with these days. I pass several farms and fields on my drive to and from work and I love the expanse of grass and vast sky.

I was pretty beat by the time I got home from work. I had all sorts of plans- cleaning, crafting, grocery shopping. Instead, I curled up on the couch “for just a minute” and fell fast asleep. By the time I got up (and I didn’t want to) it was almost 7:00. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I don’t get to take naps very often and so love them. But I also feel like it’s time wasted and a little lazy.

Yep. A can of Spaghettios for dinner. I would say of all the things I captured this week, my food has been the most deceiving. I love to cook. I’ve been known to make pasta from scratch on a whim. Cooking is a labor of love for me. It doesn’t matter how many dishes I have to dirty or the number of ingredients it takes, there are few things I enjoy more than creating and eating a wonderful meal. Not this week, though. Everything has been quick and easy or prepared in a restaurant. Not only isn’t good for my body, it isn’t good for my soul.

Calypso is fascinated by my laptop. Every time I have them both out, he can’t wait to walk across the keyboard and check out the screen. Each night I’ve been posting my photos of the previous day. It’s been time consuming and there have been nights I was up way past my bedtime, but I got it done. I’m fairly new to this whole blogging thing and try to post at least a couple of days a week. As much as I’ve loved the daily blog post, I’ll be glad to get back to a more normal schedule.

Saturday may be the last official day of Week in the Life for me, but the fun is only just beginning. Over the next week I plan to get my photos printed, pour through some of my favorite blogs and put my album together. I bought the kit and will be keeping it simple. What about you? How do you plan on completing your project?